One of the horror genre's "most widely read critics" (Rue Morgue # 68), "an accomplished film journalist" (Comic Buyer's Guide #1535), and the award-winning author of Horror Films of the 1980s (2007), The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia (2007) and Horror Films of the 1970s (2002), John Kenneth Muir, presents his blog on film, television and nostalgia, named one of the Top 100 Film Studies Blog on the Net.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

The
Enterprise is tasked with transporting Ambassador Kollos of Medusa to a
Federation summit. Kollos, and all Medusans are non-corporeal life-forms who
are renowned as the galaxy’s greatest navigators.

However,
if a human should ever gaze upon a Medusan, he or she would be driven
permanently insane. Fortunately, protective visors can prevent such
happenstance, and allow the races to co-exist and cooperate.

Two
other passengers beam aboard the Enterprise with Kollos.

The
first is Dr. Miranda Jones (Diana Muldaur) an accomplished telepath who has
been selected to undergo the first human/Medusan mind meld or link.

The
second is Larry Marvick (David Frankham), one of the designers of the
Enterprise. His job, if Dr. Jones is successful, is to incorporate
instrumentation aboard starships for linked Humans/Medusans.

Captain
Kirk (William Shatner) hosts Dr. Jones and Mr. Marvick at a dinner, but Miranda
feels threatened by Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), who was the first choice to
undergo the mind-link process. He intends only to honor her at the affair by
wearing the Vulcan IDIC medallion, but Miranda is defensive and suspicious.

Things
go from bad to worse when Marvick -- in love with Miranda -- attempts to
assassinate Ambassador Kollos. Instead of succeeding, he views the Medusan
without protection, and goes insane. He visits Engineering and while there
seizes the controls, trapping the Enterprise in a strange, distant void.

Mr.
Spock realizes that only an expert navigator, like Kollos, can help the ship to
return to its proper place in the universe. To accomplish this task, however,
he must mind-link with the ambassador, and Dr. Jones will be quite unhappy at
the prospect.

Captain
Kirk distracts Miranda with a walk in the ship’s arboretum, while Spock makes
the link without her knowledge.

The
ship is rescued, and returns to its original point in time and space, but an
accident occurs after the transfer, which leaves a vulnerable Spock -- sans visor
-- to view Kollos with his own eyes. Now Miranda, who has been deceived, must
decide if she should help restore Spock’s mind.

“Is
There in Truth No Beauty” is a good reminder of just how ahead of its time Star
Trek (1966-1969) was when it first aired.

This
story features a brilliant, complex female character, Dr. Miranda Jones (Diana
Muldaur), who is dedicated to her own professional success and doesn’t require
or want the permission of a man to pursue her goals.

It’s
true that Kirk, Bones and Marvick fall all over themselves discussing her “beauty,”
but the episode’s teleplay is clear that Jones is an accomplished individual in
her chosen field. Sure, she possesses
foibles; just as Kirk, Spock and McCoy do, but Miranda is a three-dimensional
character, not merely “eye candy.” The episode’s symbolism suggests that all
roses possess thorns, and it’s easy to apply that ideal to Miranda and her fits
of rage and jealously. But the intriguing there is that the comparison applies,
in various ways, to Kollos, and even Marvick.

Kollos
is a good soul, of course, not meaning to do harm. But his “thorn” is the
damage his appearance can do to those around him.

Marvick
is clearly a genius -- the man who designed the Enterprise and is working on
instrumentation for Kollo -- but his thorn is also “jealousy.” He is in love
with Miranda, and covets her.

Incidentally,
Miranda is also blind, but she does not allow that so-called “disability” to
stop her from achieving her ambitions.
And, the sensor-dress that Jones wears in this episode is clearly a
precursor to Geordi’s visor in The Next Generation (1987-1994) as
well as a prime example of Roddenberry’s “Technology Unchained” theorem; the
idea that advances in technology will improve all facets of human life.

It
is easy, in 2017, to look at this episode and find it in sexist since Kirk,
McCoy and Marvick are so concerned with Miranda’s beauty, not her intellect, or
even her prerogative to decide her life for herself.

Marvick’s line to Miranda
to be a “woman” for a change is absolutely sexist too (just as the term “mansplaining”
or “man up” is also sexist, in today’s world), and Kirk and McCoy’s concern for
Miranda’s happiness is a bit overwrought. I think that’s to be expected in the
third season of Star Trek. Everyone seems to be falling in love, all the time,
at a far greater rate than in the previous two seasons.

But
right there, in the text of the episode, Miranda gives it right back to the men.
When McCoy toasts Miranda, he asks if those attending the dinner will allow so
beautiful a woman to be surrounded by ugliness her whole life. Miranda responds
with a sharp toast of her own, noting that those in attendance should also not
permit McCoy, so lively a personality, to surround himself by disease and
death.

Touché!

Miranda reserves for herself only the privilege
McCoy reserves for himself: the right to choose how she lives her life, and
pursues her dreams. That is what equality is; and that is what “Is There in
Truth No Beauty” is about.

The episode also presents, for the first time,
the Vulcan concept of IDIC. The story of the IDIC pendant is legendary, of
course, an opportunity for crass commercialism.

But the concept behind IDIC -- infinite diversity
in infinite combinations -- is beautiful in its thinking. In fact, it was one
of the key ideas that makes Star Trek so worthwhile: the concept
of people of different backgrounds, cultures, genders, beliefs, and attitudes
combining their efforts to do something great, or worthwhile, like explore the
galaxy. When one gazes at the various Star
Trek crews from 1966 to 2005, we see the practicality, the necessity,
and indeed, the beauty of the IDIC concept.

It is still amazing to me that this program
that aired in the mid-1960s was so forward thinking about diversity, and its
benefits to everyone.

During the Civil Rights movement, it brought us
an African-American female on the bridge of a starship. During the Cold War, it
brought us a Russian to the same bridge. And, when those with a long memory still
hated the United States’ previous enemy from another war, it also gave us a
Japanese helmsman. “Is There in Truth No Beauty” reminds us, additionally, that
those who face physical challenges (like blindness), can also be valuable,
productive members of society.

This was by no means a mainstream view in
1968-1969.

Even the idea that Kollos is accepted by
Starfleet and the Federation -- while still considered “ugly” -- speaks well of
Star
Trek’s commitment to the concept of IDIC. Kollos’ appearance causes madness and death in
humans, and yet he is nonetheless considered a valuable ally, one who, with the
right precautions, would also have a seat on the bridge of a starship.

This
episode is nearly never referenced when discussing Star Trek’s finest
episodes, and yet consider what it accomplishes. It sets out the foundation of
a beloved Vulcan philosophy (IDIC), and it forecasts the future of the
franchise, with the sensor web leading to La Forge’s visor in The Next
Generation.

It’s
true that some elements of the episode seem over-the-top -- each time Kirk and
McCoy are in the presence of Miranda, for instance -- and yet some moments are quite
beautiful too, particularly Leonard Nimoy’s performance as the Kollos/Spock
union. Muldaur, once more, is extraordinary in terms of crafting a fully-realized character who seems to have a history and background beyond what we see on the screen.

So, I suppose we can remember the
episode’s point: every rose has its thorns.

Despite
those thorns, I would still count this as a top-tier third season episode of Star
Trek.

3 comments:

I have a soft spot for this episode and regard it as a little gem on the order of "Metamorphosis" in that it causes reflection on adult relationships and the things people will not admit to themselves.

Rather than especially sexist, I regard Kirk and McCoy's admiration of Miranda's beauty as part of their admiration of Miranda. They admire her expertise as well, but the dialog drawing attention to her beauty and self-possession is how we realize she's successfully made them unaware of her blindness. But they notice she's overcompensating, that she's erected a shield against compassionate feeling for anyone but Kollos. They understand romantic love whereas she's afraid of it, thinking it a weakness to which she cannot admit. Yet she flings her relationship with Kollos in Marvick's face despite knowing how he feels about her and how it pains him.

Nor will she admit she's using her position as Kollos' interlocutor as much to keep others away from Kollos as to assist him. Everyone's trying to tell her she's already an admirable achiever who can afford balance in her life, yet Miranda is so afraid of being diminished that she does not see she is still blind. It's when she can admit that her possessiveness is driven by fear--fear of losing her purpose if Kollos isn't dependent on her, fear of finding out whether Kollos might return her feelings for him, fear that letting anyone into her life will somehow destroy her independence--that she finds her true weakness was fear, not love. And then she is able to truly overcome her blindness. Miranda has learned that truth and beauty are not mutually exclusive.

"Is There in Truth No Beauty" is an episode title that might have been written by Stirling Silliphant for Naked City or Route 66, for which he wrote suggestively poetic or ironic titles like "Kiss the Maiden All Forlorn", "How Much a Pound is Albatross?", "To Dream Without Sleep", "And if Any Are Frozen, Warm Them", "Torment Him Much and Hold Him Long", etc.

John,This is a really great examination of "Is There In Truth No Beauty." Kollos, speaking through Spock, is one of the high points, not just for the Third Season but the entire series as well.Miranda, as presented here, is somewhat similar to her literary antecedent from Shakespeare's The Tempest: a woman on an island (or, in this case, the Enterprise) whose beauty is striking to those who look upon her. Since Jean Lisette Aroeste, the writer of the episode, has already invoked the mythical Medusa, might Miranda be likened to the Sirens of legend, whose beauty caused destruction to men who came too close to them?Marvick's love is passion carried to its extremes, leading to doom. Kirk's love is intrigue and fascination, giving way to anger when betrayed. McCoy's love is almost a form of pity. Miranda invokes strong emotions in all of these men, and even Spock falls prey to Miranda's presence in a roundabout way.The story's beauty is that, as we learn more about Miranda, we learn more about the others around her. She is presented as superficially beautiful and Kollos is externally ugly. Then, the script is flipped, and we find that Miranda's beauty masks a hidden ugliness, while Kollos is one of the most beautiful creatures we've ever encountered. Yet they can be both - in the end, Miranda has learned to give more freely of herself, that her beauty, like a rose, has thorns, but that's who she is, and she accepts it.The photography and wide angle lenses used in this episode are striking. The music and visual effects really elevate "Is There In Truth No Beauty" into a wondrous hour of television. As a kid, this episode kind of freaked me out, but it has grown into one of my favorite Star Trek episodes. Like anything that is truly beautiful, you find things to admire with each viewing. It stands the test of time.Steve

Great review of this criminally neglected (and one of my personal top five) Star Trek episode. You are spot on in how this emotionally meaty episode touches upon so many of the cornerstones of the Star Trek philosophy, and just how astoundingly ahead of its time the show was. One could argue that TOS was the most progressive series ever to air on network television.

Besides the incredible and complex performance by the sensational Diana Muldaur, I would also like to point out the gorgeous work of composer George Duning, whose score (as it did in "Metamorphosis" and "The Empath") enhances the episode immeasurably.

About John

award-winning author of 27 books including Horror Films FAQ (2013), Horror Films of the 1990s (2011), Horror Films of the 1980s (2007), TV Year (2007), The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia (2007), Mercy in Her Eyes: The Films of Mira Nair (2006),, Best in Show: The Films of Christopher Guest and Company (2004), The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi (2004), An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith (2002), The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film & Television (2004), Exploring Space:1999 (1997), An Analytical Guide to TV's Battlestar Galactica (1998), Terror Television (2001), Space:1999 - The Forsaken (2003) and Horror Films of the 1970s (2002).

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